“While we support your administration’s decision not to allow lease sales for offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, the proposed seismic testing poses a serious threat to our coastal economy, environment, and marine life,” they said in a Jan. 30 letter to US President Barack Obama.

Seismic testing off the US Atlantic coast from Delaware to the middle of Florida “could injure or kill thousands of marine mammals and fish, including endangered species…in addition to moving the region closer to risky offshore oil drilling,” the letter noted.